Day 40, Montrose – Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

After leaving our hotel, we had a nice brunch and The Vine Market Bistro in town, then headed on our way to the Black Canyon. It was a shorter drive than we realised: only ten or fifteen minutes up a hill from the turn-off from the main highway. (About 1/2hr in all)

We headed straight to the visitor centre to check out hiking/camping options, then to the main camping site on the rim to claim our spot. The C-loop was virtually empty, quite a surprise for us from our usual national park experiences! A super quiet park. Picked the best spot and pitched our tent, then on our way to do the hiking loop starting from the campsite. There were limited hikes in this park that you could do on the rim, it’s quite a skinny park with a lot of view points, then some intense hikes down the steep walls to the river, of which you needed to obtain a permit first.

Spotting local wildlife enjoying the mild temperatures

Steep!

After completing the 4 mile loop through gentle elevation gains and small, shrub-like trees on the rim, we jumped on our bikes to do the rest of the scenic road. Lots of cool view points of the Canyon, it is the steepest canyon in North Anerica, and it was quite dizzying at times looking down the sheer drops! Also very different from the other canyons we visited, because this one was entirely made of schist and gneiss rock, extremely hard volcanic rock over a billion years old. No red rocks this time. Some pretty neat stripes on lighter ‘dikes’ running throughout. By the time we finished the road, the sun was low on the horizon, so back to camp to cook dinner with the remainder of the food in our boxes. The campsite had gotten a lot busier in our absence, but was nicely spread out between the trees. Then bed to conserve our warmth, got cold once that sun had set! More adventures in the canyon tomorrow.